The Thurston County Board of Commissioners adopted Fire and Emergency
Services Growth Management Impact Fees for certain types of new
construction permits within S.E. Thurston Fire Authority’s jurisdiction
on January 23, 2018. The Fees are scheduled to go into effect on March
1, 2018.

The S.E. Thurston Fire Authority’s Board of Fire Commissioners
requested the county collect the fees on their behalf. The county
adopted amendments to the impact fee code in September 2016, April 2017
and January 2018. The authority to collect impact fees for fire
districts and authorities was added with these amendments.

Since then, the County has reviewed the full impact fee request from
S.E. Thurston Fire Authority and has agreed to collect fees on their
behalf.

The fire services impact fees are based on the square footage of the
proposed building. The fee rate is $0.36 per square foot. The fee
amount is based on S.E. Thurston Fire Authority’s Impact Fee Rate Study
and on their Capital Facilities Plan.

Impact fees will be assessed at the time a completed building
application is submitted to the Thurston County Permit Assistance
Center. Impact Fees are generally collected at time of Building Permit
issuance.

To see a map of S.E. Thurston Fire Authority’s jurisdiction where the
fee would apply, please
click here.

To go to S.E. Thurston Fire Authority’s website for more information
on their operations, please click
here.

S.E. Thurston Fire Authority has been working with Thurston County on
the development of their impact fee and exceptions to fee payment. The exceptions
would include:

Single-family homes with residential fire sprinklers

Ag-exempt structures up to 775 square feet

Structures not requiring permits

Bulkheads

Retaining Walls

Stair Towers

Ground based solar panels

Structures which are not frequently used such as: docks, walking
surfaces such as porches and decks

Any addition to current structures which is less than 500 square
feet

Residential structures with a residential sprinkler system

Recent Activity

The Washington State Legislature passed Engrossed Senate Bill
(ESB) 5923 was on May 11, 2015, and amended Revised Code of Washington
(RCW) 82.02.050 to require counties collecting impact fees under
Ch.36.70A RCW to adopt and maintain a program deferring the collection
of impact fees on single-family detached and attached residential
construction for a period not to exceed 18-months for the first 20 homes
(or more, if allowed by the County), with the condition that the
applicant, if they choose to participate, must record a “deferred impact
fee lien against the property” in favor of the County. The legislation
also requires that the County keep an accurate record of any and all
deferrals, and that these provisions be in place by September 1,
2016. In addition, the proposed amendments include adding language
allowing for the collection of impact fees on behalf of Fire Districts
that serve rural Thurston County.

Thurston County Commissioners have approved changes to the Thurston
County Code for voluntary deferment of impact fees until final building
inspection, for the first 20 applications for single-family residences
per contractors license.

For more detailed information about approved Ordinance No. 15340
amending Title-25 Impact Fees, and to view the full text of the approved
ordinance, Please click the link to the right on your screen under ‘News
and Links’.

2016 Impact Fee Schedule

The 2015 Impact Fee Schedule has been amended to reflect
changes in the capital facilities planning for school districts and for
construction costs.

Impact fees are a type of one-time charge developers pay to help
finance their proportionate share of the cost of the roads, parks,
schools and other facilities necessary to serve their new developments.
Impact fees are usually due at the time a building permit is issued. The funds collected cannot be used for operation,
maintenance, repair, alteration, or replacement of existing capital
facilities and cannot just be added to general revenue. The amount of
the fee must be clearly linked to the added service cost, not some
arbitrary amount.

Thurston County Impact Fees

On December 11, 2012, the Board of County Commissioners passed
Ordinance No. 14819 adopting the Thurston County Impact Fee
Ordinance into the Thurston County Code as Title 25. Impact fees will
begin on April 2, 2013.

The impact fee schedule for parks and transportation was adopted on
December 11, 2012 with
Resolution No. 14820.

School District Impact Fees

Thurston County has interlocal agreements to collect impact fees for
the Olympia, Rochester, Tumwater, and Yelm School Districts.

To see a map of the School Districts and their associated impact
fee schedule, click here.

To see the interlocal agreement for the Olympia School District,
click here.

To see the interlocal agreement for the Rochester School
District,
click here.

To see the interlocal agreement for the Tumwater School
District,
click here.

To see the interlocal agreement for the Yelm School District,
click
here.

Transportation Impact Fees

Transportation impact fees are collected in unincorporated Thurston
County. Impact fees are based on the proposed use and the location of
the project in the County. The County is divided into six service
areas.

To see a map of Transportation Impact Fee Transportation Service
Areas, and the associated impact fee schedule, click
here.

Impact Fees and the Growth Management Act

The Revised Code of Washington 82.02.050 (2) authorizes counties
required to plan under the Growth Management Act to "impose impact fees
on development activity as part of the financing for public
facilities..." GMA impact fees are only authorized for: public
streets and roads; publicly owned parks, open space, and recreation
facilities; school facilities; and fire protection facilities in
jurisdictions that are not part of a fire district. Setting fee
schedules for impact fees is a complex process typically involving rate
studies.

Impact Fee Study in Thurston County

To determine the feasibility of establishing GMA Impact Fees,
Thurston County commissioned an Impact Fee study to determine
development/growth related cost to construct transportation, parks and
school infrastructure. The consultant reviewed county and school capital
facilities plans; proposed services areas and proposed fees for each
transportation, park and school district service area. Proposed school
impact fees are based on the school’s capital facilities plan. The
consultant has met with the Olympia Master Builders, School and Fire
Districts to hear their issues and recommendations and presented their
feedback into discussions with the Board of County Commissioners. At
this time, a draft impact fee ordinance is ready for public testimony.
The following goals were used to develop the proposed impact fee system:

1. equitably recovers the cost of county
transportation, recreation, schools and fire protection improvements as
a result of new development;

2. is less of an administrative burden to
Thurston County, school districts, fire protection and the development
community than the current SEPA mitigation process; and

3. provides the timely and equitable
financing of public services and improvements to mitigate and prevent
impacts from new development.

The collection of fees to fund public infrastructure is not new to
Thurston County. The county has been collecting SEPA impact fees for the
last twenty years. The primary differences between SEPA and GMA impact
fees are:

SEPA fees are negotiated between the developer and, public works
department, school district and county for each project

GMA fees are established on a service area basis given the cost
to construct transportation, park and school projects within the
service area

SEPA fees are typically used to fund specific improvements in
the immediate vicinity of the proposed development

GMA fees are used to fund improvements on the system within a
service area

Smaller developments are exempt from SEPA mitigation fees, thus
cumulative impacts from several small developments lead to impacts
that are not funded by new development and must be funded from other
sources such as property taxes or bonds and levies

GMA fees can be collected from all new residential and
commercial development regardless of size